Section-801-Conflict of interest

​Section 801: Conflict of Interest

Purpose

To protect the public interest by outlining guidelines for public employees which ensure that a conflict of interest does not exist or does not appear to exist.

Definition

Conflict of interestIs a situation in which a public employee, either for himself/herself or some other person(s), attempts to promote a private or personal interest which results or appears to result in:

An interference with the objective exercise of public service duties

A gain or an advantage by virtue of his/her position in the public service

General Statement

Due to the nature of the public employee's responsibilities that entail the promotion of the public interest, it may, in some cases, be necessary to restrict the activities of the public employee to ensure that a conflict of interest does not or does not appear to exist.

The range and complexity of government activities are such that it is not possible to produce a complete and detailed list of all conflict of interest situations. Accordingly, the situations described in these guidelines are examples only and not designed to be an exhaustive list.
If questions arise that are not specifically dealt with by the guidelines, they should be settled in accordance with the general principles of the guidelines.

In accordance with section 12 of
The Public Service Act, 1998,
the authority to approve/approve with modifications/not approve requests for outside employments/activities has been delegated to permanent heads or their nominees for employees in their respective ministries. The Public Service Commission will support the ministries by reviewing and providing advice and recommendations for all requests. The Chair of the Public Service Commission will hear appeals from employees and the Chair’s decision is final and binding.

Privacy

The privacy of employees will be respected. The personal information and personal health information collected for the administration of this policy will only be used by or disclosed to individuals who need the information to perform the duties of their position. The amount of information shall be limited to that which is reasonably required to achieve the purpose. Individuals who have been given access to the information are responsible to:

Treat the information as confidential and shall not further disclose the information to any other party

Where practicable, de-identify personal health information

use the information only for purposes of providing a service or making a decision

Safeguard the information from further access (whether intentional or unintentional)

Applicant

All employees appointed under
The Public Service Act.

Authority

The Public Service Act, 1998, subsection 12(1)The Public Service Regulations, 1999, Part 7, section 95The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy ActThe Health Information Protection Act